Spanish Lake Film Review: Disposable Communities and Suburban Development

“When the first black people moved onto our street I saw the reactions.” “It’s not because black people moved in that white people left.” “It’s changed. It turned really dark, not that that’s a bad thing, but what comes with that is a lot of trouble.” Spanish Lake is not a film about race, but that may not be easy to discern.

Spanish Lake is a film about disposable communities, the ephemeral nature of our built environment, the lack of value we put on place, and particularly post war suburban development. It’s about a time when a consumer society, auto-centric infrastructure and cultural disruptions were creating single-generation communities for the first time.

The film is directed by Philip Andrew Morton, who spent the majority of his childhood in Spanish Lake. Upon returning to see his boarded up church and school, and his neglected neighborhood, Morton sought to document the changes he could see, but not quite understand. Smartly, the film doesn’t as much try to answer what happened, drawing a single conclusion would have been a mistake.

While rooted in the memories of white residents from the 1970s and 80s, Spanish Lake brings a wide range of voices into the conversation. Those voices are alternatingly uninformed, barely self-aware, smart, and insightful. What the film does amazingly well, is allow residents then and now to share their story. This is the value of Spanish Lake. Interested and engaged viewers will find a lot to spur further inquiry.

First settled by German immigrants in the mid-18th Century, post-war suburban development had built out Spanish Lake by the 1960s. By the 1980s, developers had moved on to St. Charles and other farther out suburban locations. Rows and rows of new homes were being built to meet the expanding expectations of the Middle Class. Two or three bedrooms weren’t enough, children needed their own rooms. Sharing a bathroom was no longer expected. And families were looking for two-car garages. The 25-year-old Spanish Lake home was a poor candidate for renovation.

One cannot extract the issue of race from development and population movements in a city like St. Louis, and the film walks that tightrope, but timelines and memories are muddled. A statement at the film’s closing may sum up residents’ feelings the best, “Somebody was against us, and I’m not sure who.”

In 1970, Spanish Lake was 99% white and 1% black. Racial change had yet to come to the community. Multi-family housing came to Spanish Lake in the late 1960s and into the 1970s. Yet Spanish Lake’s racial composition didn’t measurably change.

Five years earlier, as the film highlights, President Johnson announced, “This administration here and now declares unconditional war on poverty in America.” The Department of Housing and Urban Development was established that same year.

In St. Louis, the issues of urban development and housing were front and center. The Pruitt-Igoe housing project had deteriorated drastically since it was it was constructed in 1955. As the public housing towers began to come down, and St. Louis County was forced by federal action to begin building affordable housing, suburban residents feared the spread of poverty.

And people were on the move in unprecedented numbers in St. Louis. In the 1950s, 100,000 people left the City of St. Louis. The 1960s saw 128,000 leave. Then 170,000 residents, more than 27% of the city’s population, left in the 1970s. They moved north, west, and south. St. Louis County was built out by about 1970 and development sprawled further.

When housing preferences change, homes age and require more maintenance, when jobs move further away, it may only take a nudge for someone to move. For some that’s race, for some it’s seeing their neighbors move, for some its the threat of decreased home values.

The community of Black Jack, MO immediately to the west of Spanish Lake incorporated in 1970 and immediately opposed and prevented plans to build multi-family housing. Other St. Louis communities had done the same, and more would come. To many, Black Jack was seen as, “A symbol of suburban resistance to federal pressure.”

Dr. Robert Schuchardt, Zoning Commission Chairman of Black Jack is shown in an archival video explaining the opposition. “The people who are out here are middle income, behave like middle income, they worry about their schools, they worry about their lawns, their property, so we have a very quiet racial integration going on in North County, and no problem with it.”

The economic thinking here is very much alive today. Following the 2010 Census showing just a 3.6% poverty rate in St. Charles County, County Executive Steve Ehlmann credited residents, stating that they avoid high-risk behavior. “Those who use drugs, drop out of school, and skirt the law are more likely to end up in poverty,” Ehlmann stated in his State of the County address.

As an unincorporated area, Spanish Lake residents had no self-determination in zoning. Very clearly, unincorporated areas, provided the path of least resistance for building multi-family and low-income housing. After all, the reason there are 90 different municipalities in the county is so that communities could better decide who would live next door, and who would not.

The Section 8 voucher program, giving rental assistance to low-income individuals and families to find housing wherever they choose, began in 1974. The film highlights a significant turning point as multi-family developments become dense Section 8 enclaves.

There’s race, there’s federal housing policy, there’s the unincorporated status of Spanish Lake, but if one were to seek a single trigger for the economic downturn of this community, it would be decreased demand for housing (which includes many factors). This economic change unleashes unethical real estate practices, blockbusting, and steering.

In the second half of the 1990s, the community changed drastically, and fast. The number of children living in poverty in Spanish Lake increased 200% in 10 years (1990-2000), a 133% increase among all age groups. In broad terms, black lower socioeconomic class residents were moving into residences left behind by middle-class white residents.

To compound the challenges quick change brought to the community, the suburban development was not equipped to provide services to its new residents. Schools struggled with burgeoning class sizes and children living in poverty. As poverty spiked, there were zero social service agencies operating in Spanish Lake. As more than one person suggests in the film, it makes little sense to push, pull, or locate those living in poverty to a relatively remote suburban location.

Something not in the film but discussed elsewhere by the director, is the idea that it was politically advantageous to isolate rising black political power. By placing low income multi-family housing in North County, the idea is that black residents would be more likely to reside in the Missouri 1st Congressional District, which then was represented by the state’s first black congressman, William Clay. Clay’s son’s represents the district today.

Today Spanish Lake is home to nearly 20,000 residents, little changed since 1980, though the past decade showed a 7.9% decrease. If incorporated, it would be the 10th largest city in St. Louis County. There was no mass exodus of people from Spanish Lake from the 1970 to 2000. The demographics slowly changed, the color of resident’s skin changed. That is what people see and remember.

Interestingly, the film makes a point to show Spanish Lake today, and gives a glimpse of what might be a nascent economic revival. The National Archive and Records Center, the largest depository of American military records outside of Washington D.C. has built a new repository capable of housing 2.3 million cubic feet of records. Applied Scholastics, a non-profit education organization affiliated with the Church of Scientology moved their headquarters to Spanish Lake. Residents recently successfully opposed a proposal to build a casino in their community, some Section 8 apartments are returning to market rate, and social services agencies are now active.

What’s largely left unexamined is whether Spanish Lake could have prevented its economic decline. Evidence suggests not. The neighboring municipalities of Bellefontaine Neighbors, Black Jack and others haven’t fared well in the disposable economy and increasing sprawl development. While incorporation as a municipality may have helped residents fight zoning changes, the 90 municipalities of St. Louis County are replete with economically failed and failing communities.

Residents were at the mercy of larger forces that didn’t care about community. There are moments of wisdom in the film, and this, offered by a Spanish Lake resident offers the most clear conclusion, “This becomes an issue of politics, power, and resources, and lower-class, poorer people don’t have those things.”

Spanish Lake is an essential film for understanding St. Louis and urban housing policy. It’s a must see for anyone interested in St. Louis and American cities. While the Pruitt-Igoe Myth allowed us to reexamine a long neglected subject, its remoteness in time dulls the immediacy of the important issues it represents. Spanish Lake brings these much nearer to today.

About Alex Ihnen

Alex is the owner and editor of nextSTL.com. He earned a B.A. in Journalism and Masters in Public Affairs at Indiana University and has studied in Adelaide, Australia and Perugia, Italy. Alex can be found on Twitter @alexihnen and reached at [email protected]

Grew up in Spanish Lake. Attended public school. Parents lower middle class income, mother stayed home, hard-working honest people who could care less about skin color. They had no time to bother, we were too busy living our own lives. Until my gentle, kind-hearted big brother was mugged three times walking home from school by black kids at age 9, 10 and 11. Until in Kindergarten, two little black girls threatened to beat me up after school, for no reason as they admitted. Until the homes around us were getting broken into. Our home was 10 houses down the road from Countryside Apartments. My parents knew that our safety was in danger so they moved us to St. Peters. How can people call them racist? They’ve never done a SINGLE thing to a black person. If the black children had treated us better in school my parents probably would have stayed a LOT longer. We loved our home.

But the story started decades before that. My father now looks back and remembers back in the late sixties in Cahokia, ILL, just across the river from St. Louis, the black basketball team jumping his team off the bus after they won a game against them. My mom remembers back in the late 60’s in Walnut Park, a once beautiful community, another Spanish Lake you could say, her little sister was one of the last remaining white girls in her high school. The black girls threatened her daily saying they’d “cut off her hair”. My aunt had to go and live with another family relative to attend a better school because at the time my grandmother couldn’t afford to move.

St. Louis is a city of extreme black poverty and deprivation. I was a social worker in the inner city of St. Louis for years. I walked into the deapest ghettos where most white people wouldn’t dream of going and will never see. It is far more dismal, bare and starved of resources than most can imagine. I can understand why young black people are angry, why they commit crimes. Yet, I also can not believe that any government can fix that problem. If the whites had stayed, what would have changed? The black community has to get smart, get resourcesful for their own. Many groups of peoples over history have risen up, found the means to create a viable and sustainable economic solution for their own people. Money is freedom and power.

I am now 41 years old. I have four children. I just built a house in Wentzville, MO. I fear my children going to school with too many poor black children. I KNOW that they will be bullied, I KNOW that they would have conflict and there would eventually be violence because the evidence in MY life says this is fact. This is not racism, this is self-preservation.

Kells

Angela,

I’m so sorry about what your community went through. Here in PA, we’ve been going through the same, but it’s not as extreme because we’re not quite as rural. Still though, our taxes have gone up like mad / people complain because the ‘system’ is failing blacks and hispanics because they don’t do as well in school as the white children / poor minorities don’t have access to good housing, etc.

Just an FYI: I’m Asian, white, and have African roots as well.

‘Spanish Lake’ had us so angry that the government ruined a beautiful, close-knit community.

I just wish you all could band together and buy up all your homes, and make it the place it should be.

rgbose

Saw it today, everyone go see it. The same story could be written about many areas of St. Louis. One lady said seeing the area decline was more emotional to her than anything in her life beside the deaths of family members. I’ve heard similar stories from people who grew up in other neighborhoods. They can’t believe how the great place they grew up in declined. Everyone left, took their
wealth with them, there wasn’t enough new people to backfill, and no surprise decline. Can we ever change the policies that encourage build-abandon-build-abandon?

Who was the guy in the blue shirt who got a bit angry and had a stick in his hand? Really nailed when he talks about spreading out too much. He should be a Strong Towns fan.

JohnThomas52

If we have any more documentary films like “Spanish Lake” or “The Delmar Divide” (2012), then it will become a St. Louis story. It’s like a very bad movie that plays over and over again but the only difference is that the film title changes–same story line of racism and segregation, its effect on economic decline, and the destruction of communities in reference to the particular area.

“The Delmar Divide” refers to the black and white divide in case any readers are not aware of this BBC film, though it is a well-known street where one sees whites and blacks segregated by neighborhoods. “Spanish Lake” gives a more direct tale of white flight. White folks gone so fast. . . some just leaving without even selling. Here’s a description of the white flight in numbers: http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/new-documentary-explores-white-flight-spanish-lake

To give background context, white people with wealth, power, and social status that came from rich families in STL never gave a care about the surrounding communities that were suffering. The “Ladues” never cared about “north city”. They never invested in the surrounding communities to give a helping hand. Economic decline is a direct result of racism and a lack of foresight that “we are all in this together”. It’s like rich, white people insulated themselves in their home and refuse to engage in the community at large. This could be why St. Louis is perceived as an uncaring city. Black suffering is perceived less important than white suffering ( check out news coverage when a young, white woman is shot CWE but back story or no story for a young, black woman who is shot in north city). What is newsworthy? Is White life more important than Black life? Is Black unemployment less important than white unemployment? These questions come up over and over again in this city.

Take a look at poverty in the STL city public schools–90% of all STL public school children receive free lunches because they come from poor families. This is the future generation–young children (many Black but some White and other groups of course) trapped by their poverty and with a 5% chance in their life time to leave the poverty trap in this city. The future generation will be largely poor–relying very heavily on public assistance. Crime will be bad. Issues of racism, segregation,poverty, crime, and poor schools will persist. IMHO, these factors do not make for a future sustainable or safe city. Just too dicey with home values, unaccredited public city schools, racial tensions, and crime.

For outsiders looking in, STL tells the story of how racism and segregation can destroy a city. It’s not just Delmar street area or Spanish Lake. It’s everywhere from the STL core moving outward. The next bad movie needs to make this very point. The title of the documentary film could be called: “St. Louis is Vanishing in Many Areas: A story of How Racism and Segregation Destroys Many Communities”. That way, we won’t have to see the same bad movie over and over again–we can just have the story told for the city as a whole rather than broken down by neighborhoods, unincorporated areas, or streets.

CA

Family lived there until 2008 and lived through this… And saw with our own eyes what can happen… And it was under Pres. Nixon not Johnson that George Romney came up with this idea and we were the mice.

guest

I have been living in Spanish Lake since 1989. My family has been living there since the 1950’s. I have watch my neighborhood decline year after year and it makes me sick. I walked the streets as a child without fear, and now that can not happen. My cousin walked to Larimore park the other day and was mugged. I see graffiti, abandon homes and businesses. It’s is sad, but soon I am packing up and heading out as well. I can not take it anymore.

guest

Good review, but the film seems to be taking a rather opportunistic view of white flight to advance a documentary filmmaker’s truck.

Twinkie

I would have to disagree with such an ignorant statement. I admire the filmmaker’s courage in bringing this controversial subject matter to a mainstream audience. One of the many lessons that can be learned from this documentary is not to assume or judge a book by its cover, which you have so successfully done.

druber

I’d have to agree with “guest”. I don’t think it was ignorant the least bit. White flight is a racist term that oversimplifies what is a very complex issue.

Twinkie

I may have been a little harsh with using the word”ignorant” but I agree with you about white flight oversimplifying a very complex issue. As the film points out many factors contributed to the decline of that area over 40 years. It is true that there are true racists that moved simply because of a black family moving in without integrating them into the community in a dignified manner. And how hypocritical in a predominantly Catholic community that preaches to treat everyone as you would want to be treated. But plenty of white people stayed despite the changing demographics including my family. It wasn’t until there was no sense of community like I knew it did I decide to leave. The decline in median income levels could not support the amenities everyone desires in their local community including a good public school district, convenient retail, and sustainable property values.

guest

Okay, wow. “Guest” here. So you moved, too, eh Twinkie? That’s the real STL story. The story about people moving out of their old neighborhoods and then behaving like they are experts on their old neighborhoods to this very day – even if they left years ago. St. Louis is filled with stories like that, coming from people living in St. Charles, Arnold, Fenton, Wentzville, St. Peters, whatever. Yawn!

Hookman

A lot of people in the film are still living there. Stop being such a tool…Leftist do-gooders who think they’re the champions of the black race!!!
-Hookman

Hookman

A lot of people in the film are still living there. Stop being such a tool…Leftist do-gooders who think they’re the champions of the black race!!!
-Hookman